The Origin of the Elephant Tower and the Ivory Tower

In the forty-seventh year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (16 19), it was built by Xiao Yunju, a native of Nanning. He was a scholar in high school and served as an assistant minister in the official department of the imperial court. The original tower was more than 30 meters high, but it was later destroyed by lightning. 1In August, 937, the local government ordered the tower to be demolished for fear that it would become the target of Japanese bombing of Nanning. From February 1985 to September 1987, the municipal government rebuilt the Dragon Elephant Tower according to the architectural style of the Ming Dynasty. The new tower is 52.35 meters high, and the diameter of the tower foundation is 12 meters, with a total of nine octagonal buildings. The top of the tower is made of green glazed tiles, and 72 bronze bells are hung under the corner of each floor. There are 207 stairs in the tower, which can climb from the first floor to the ninth floor, and the top floor overlooks Nanning.

The Dragon Elephant Tower is located in Fengchi Ridge, Qingxiu Mountain. Legend has it that Xiao Yunju's ancestral grave was buried in the treasure house of Feng Dance Peony, so Xiao Yunju became a big official in lucky strike. But Mr. Feng Shui said that the phoenix can fly. If the Xiao family wants to be a big official from generation to generation, they must try their best to keep the Phoenix. If they want to keep the phoenix, they must hold down its wings. Xiao Yunju believed Mr. Feng Shui's words, so he invested to build a dragon elephant tower on the top of Fengchi Ridge in Qingxiu Mountain in an attempt to hold down the wings of the phoenix with the pagoda. Of course, there is another legend. Officials and rich people at that time were superstitious about Feng Shui. In many counties, pagodas must be built to block the outlet when there is a river, thinking that only in this way can the financial outflow be avoided and the county can prosper. Xiao Yunju built a tower for himself and Nanning, so the then chief of Nanning also supported him to build a dragon elephant tower.

1In August, 937, the local government ordered the tower to be demolished for fear that it would become the target of Japanese bombing of Nanning. 1February 1985 to1September 1987, the municipal government rebuilt the Dragon Elephant Tower according to the architectural style of the Ming Dynasty. The new tower is 52.35 meters high, and its foundation diameter is 12 meters, with nine octagons. The top of the tower is a green glazed tile, and 72 bronze bells are hung under the corner of each floor. There are 207 stairs in the tower, which can climb from the first floor to the ninth floor, and the top floor overlooks Nanning.